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Velosolutions Pump Track

At last I was taking my pre Christmas eBay purchase to the place that inspired me to buy it in the first place.

Friday and Thursday nights at 417 have dedicated sessions for the Velosolutions pump track and the indoor dirt jump barn (more on that later).

£15 gets you 3 hours fun and a burger, chips and a can of fizzy pop.

This was my first time and I was really looking forward to a good workout and making the most of my Friday night, as the rest of my weekend looks like it wont involve any bikes.

I didn’t expect to meet anyone I knew but bumped into Mattie Pugh who was one of our guides at FOD MTB a couple of years ago, with his boy 3 Style Billy, who was showing everyone just how quick you can get around the fantastic Velosolutions pump track.

Thanks Jo Page for taking a few pics

Also there were Jo Page and Jo Bloomer from the Malverns and Average Joe mountain bike “club” – I’m not entirely sure what, but they ride bikes and that’s fine with me. Jo writes an awesome blog and take some great pictures so I’m sure there will be a better account, albeit from her perspective over on her blog sooner or later.

Thanks Jo for the picture, look forward to that ride in the Malverns.

Anyway where was I – oh yeah it was exhausting!

1 lap of the pump track takes between 15-20 seconds and after 2 you start to feel it. I never quite completed 3 laps without feeling completely wrecked. So you burst out for a lap or 2, wait a few mins and go again. And just repeat. Sounds quite dull, but its addictive, its a great work out for your upper body and your quads and a lot more fun than the gym if you ask me.

I’ve tried to be a little more creative with my post production in the video this week with some cinematic bars and a bit of colour tweaking, I’m not sure it works totally – let me know below what you think.

So the jump barn… Well, there are some big hips and doubles in there that maybe one day I’ll have a go at but for know I need to understand why I couldn’t even jump the outside line of tables.

I have cleared tables like these on my mountain bike and on this DMR DJ/BMX bike, but I couldn’t even clear the first one tonight.

Its a very different to anything I have ever ridden before and I think will take a few visits to get comfortable with it. If I can make the first 3 tables I will be very satisfied with myself but I am sure will long for the bigger jumps!

However, despite failing miserably in the jump barn and not quite nailing the double I was aiming for on the pump track I had a great time and came home feeling very pleased with myself and just wishing that this place wasnt over an hour away as a weekly visit would see me improve vastly I am sure!

There was a mix of ages and abilities there and everyone was friendly and gave the old guys like me and the young kids plenty of space.